I had often thought that. Mopar had been building HP engines for many years. The 273 started out as the first LA small block. With out anything else bigger in that same engine family, of course they would jack on up for more power. The 318 2 barrel was damn close to the same specs without all the HP technology. The 340 was the only engine they built in recent history that didn't start out as a 2 barrel. Yes, they used performance knowledge to build the 340 but not anything they already didn't know from decades past.
